(1944-) Sociologist, academic
administrator. Ph.D. in sociology, University of Virginia, 1979, studying particularly
with Jeffrey Hadden and Randall Collins. He has taught at George Washington University,
Hollins College, and Washington and Jefferson College. From 1989 to 1996, he served as
Dean, Vice President, and Provost at Merrimack College, at which time he was elected
President of Elizabethtown College, which position he now holds. President, Association
for the Sociology of Religion, 1991.

Most of Long's publications deal with theoretical issues.
He has updated Weber's analysis of prophetic religion (1986, 1988), analyzed the place of
healing in religion (1983), and proposed theories concerning new religious movements
(1993, Long and Hadden 1983). He did a comprehensive study of the clergy and union
activists who protested against unemployment in the Pittsburgh area from 1983 to 1987. The
early stages of these protests were supported by agencies of the Lutheran Church. A
preliminary report of his findings has been published (1990).

In addition to his scholarly work, Long has been an active
member of professional organizations in the sociology of religion. From 1981 to 1988, he
served as committee chair, council member, and executive officer of the Association for
the Sociology of Religion. Long made a major contribution to improving the organizational
effectiveness and financial solvency of the association. He also collaborated with Jeffrey
Hadden in publishing a festschrift in honor of Joseph H. Fichter, Religion and
Religiosity in America (Crossroad 1983), which began the ASR's Fichter Research Grant
fund.